Field of Invention
Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a wavelength/bandwidth tunable optical filter and a driving method thereof, and more particularly, to a wavelength/bandwidth tunable optical filter capable of flexibly tuning a wavelength and bandwidth, and a driving method thereof.
Description of Related Art
With the increase of data processing capacity, much research is being conducted on technologies for realizing large-scale networks and flexible networks. In order to realize a network flexibilization technology, there is an increasing need for a wavelength/bandwidth tunable optical filter technology capable of detecting a WDM (Wavelength-Division-Multiplexing, hereinafter referred to as “WDM”) optical signal having a wavelength and bandwidth in an optical communication network that has its basis on the WDM method.
WDM (Wavelength-Division Multiplexing) is a communication method of combining multiple optical signals having different wavelengths for transmission along one optical cable. In the WDM method, a subscriber is provided with a point-to-point exclusive channel through allocation of a unique and independent wavelength. Since each subscriber performs communication using optical signals of different wavelengths, the communication speed increases.
Meanwhile, in a metro or long distance optical communication system that has its basis on a software defined network (SDN), since wavelengths and data speed of optical signal can be changed, a wavelength/bandwidth tunable optical filter capable of suitably detecting characteristics of an optical signal is used as an essential optical component. However, currently well known wavelength/bandwidth tunable optical filters have limitations to be applied in metro or long distance optical communication systems due to their size, cost, and complexity in realizing the technology.